My Ragdoll Cat Adventures Part Three

16th Feb Blog Post 185 The Vet

Me and Shaun had fun yesterday taking Tom and Jack to the vet! It was a bit of a struggle as you can imagine. I could only get Tom in the carrier to start off with and I waited for Shaun to come over to help get Jack in as well while I was holding Tom’s head in so he didn’t jump out. It didn’t help that Leo kept jumping on the carrier causing it to collapse (it is a bit like a tent as it is a fold away carrier.) Charlie was trying to get in it as well. We managed to get Jack in after I grabbed him and then zipped up the lid. I had put a couple of their catnip toys in and sprayed some Feliway. Shaun carried them to his car (I can’t lift them both!) and put them on the back seat and I sat next to them. The vets is only 10 mins away thankfully. They yowled all the way there. They hate being in the car. They quietened down when we got there and we were sat in the waiting room. I looked in the carrier and they were snuggled together at one end like when they were little kittens. Bless them. It was challenging to get them out of the carrier when the vet called us in. I got Tom out first and he was glad to be out the box I think. He was very good and let the vet examine him and listen to his heart and check his temperature (thermometer up the bum, not nice!) The vet weighed him and he is 7.7kg (he was 8.7 last year) so he has lost a bit of weight which I think the vet thought was a good thing! The vet wrote down the weights and the vaccination info in their little health records. Then Jack was next. When I tried to get him out of the carrier he kept holding on the mat underneath him with his claws so I had to drag him out! Jack was okay when he was on the table and let the vet do his checks. Jack’s weight was 7.8kg close to Tom’s and he lost weight as well as he was 9kg last year. I thought he was a little slimmer. The vet did not seem worried about it as they are both quite muscly and stocky and I said they are eating well but not as much as they used to. Leo is eating their food when he can! While Jack was getting his jab, Tom was crying for him and trying to get out of the carrier to jump on the table with him. Boyfriend and I were trying to calm him down and I said ‘Look, Jack is here he is fine.’ Tom was still struggling to get out to him and I think he just wanted to be out of the carrier. Jack did not flinch when he had his jab. I tried to put him back in the carrier and then my boyfriend and I struggled for a few embarrassing minutes while Jack and Tom were trying to climb out while we were closing the lid. I was getting hot and flustered and was a bit cross. Eventually we got them in and I apologised to the vet for taking ages. He smiled and said it was fine and gave me the record books back. £120 quid later and a short drive we were home. Jack and Tom were glad to be home. Leo and Charlie were sniffing them a lot. Vet’s smell. Then Jack and Tom punished me for the next two hours as they yowled and moaned and paced up and down and pawed at me. I couldn’t concentrate and I kept having to get up and go and cuddle them to reassure them. We have to do this again in two months time when it is Leo and Charlie’s turn for their vaccinations in April!